


Mission report: December 17th, 1992

by Adi (Littlelionman15)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-14 12:47:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14769920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littlelionman15/pseuds/Adi
Summary: Peggy Carter finds out about Howard Stark's death and goes onto a trip down memory lane.





	Mission report: December 17th, 1992

„Director Carter?“ Peggy Carter looked up from the paper she was holding in her hands. The voice belonged to a young woman dressed in a SHIELD uniform. Peggy nodded, and the agent came in. Her posture was unsteady, nervous – just as the director of SHIELD noticed even when she stood meters away from her. Her lips twitching, avoiding eye contact. „What's wrong, dear?“ Her voice was soft. She knew how to approach the situation. She quickly glanced at Peggy and the back at the files she held in her hands, as if she was deciding whether to share the newfound information with her or not. Well, it wasn't a choice – it was sent for the director to see, just as Peggy implied, with her the palm of her hand open and directed towards her. She slowly gave it to her, her hands shaking. Once she recieved the file, Peggy laid it down on her desk and immediately started analyzing it. The young woman looked at her with her eyes filled out with tears. The director seemed so calm. The look on her face was a soft, friendly expression – a faint smile, brightness in her eyes. Her dark hair has been graced with a sign of age, just like her cheeks and forehead. Margaret Elizabeth „Peggy“ Carter had always been a woman to admire. She has always been a woman in man's world – a warrior, a rebel; a fighter. She aided Captain America in ending World War II. She was the founder of SHIELD. The same hands which now held the mission report she had just brought in were the same hands which brought a new sense of justice to the world every day. Her office had great windows which provided the room with sunlight – so much even, that it made it seem as if her desk was placed in front the gates of heaven. There were pictures on her mahogany desk – her family, the young agent concluded. One was Peggy with a gorgeous man, with wavy, dark hair and walking support. They seemed to look so happy. The other one was the two of them again, but now with a little girl with her wavy hair tied into two pigtails, wearing a red dress just like Peggy in the photo. The third one was a young girl, wearing a gown you'd see seniors wear at their graduation ceremony. She was beautiful – she resembled Peggy greatly, with the sharp look in her eyes and the divine smile. „You may go now.“ Peggy said quietly, her voice shaking. „Close the door and please tell Maria to cancel the rest of my scheduled meetings for today.“ The young agent nodded and immediately started walking towards the door. Once it closed, Peggy shut her eyes. She took a deep breath – she inhaled, waited for a few seconds, and then inhaled. She has done it multiple times afterwards – it was a way to steady her heartbeat. She was shaking, tears sliding down her cheeks. „Oh, Howard.“ she whispered through the tears. It was the news that shocked the world: genius inventor and director of Stark Industires, Howard Stark, was brutally murdered. Peggy shut her eyes again. The picture was something she'd never be able to delete from her memory – that lone road, the crashed car and the two bodies in it. Maria Stark, Howard's beloved wife, had been in the car with him. The report says that she had died before him by her heart stopping, while Howard's face was bloody, crushed. He had died from internal damage caused by the wounds all over his body. She looked back at the picture again. Oh, Howard. Peggy's thoughts flew all the way back into the '40s: the day she met him. At first thought, Peggy would describe him as an arrogant, self-loving egomaniac. He was briliant, though. A genius. With every step he'd take, a swarn of young women would be with him. She called him an idiot inside her head when he tried to charm his way into her arms, just like he did with many other girls. „Ah, come on, Mary Poppins.“ he said, „Why don't you like me?“ In the same moment, about a dozen ways to knock him in the face flew through Peg's mind, as did the fact that he's an important liaison to the SSR. „It must be the perfume, Mr. Stark. That's got to be what makes you so easily unlikable, not the flattery personality.“ she said with a smile. His lips formed a crooked smile. „Well, if you say so.“ Then she remembered 1943. It was days after Steve went missing. He was, to the public, presumed dead, but she knew otherwise. She knew it. That's why she asked Howard to search for him. „Pegs“ he said softly, his voice more serious and mellow, more understanding since the first time they met. „I know you loved him, but that's ...“ he stopped. It wasn't because he was afraid of her reaction. She could kick his ass in eight martial arts any time of the day – but that wasn't what he was afraid of. She had just lost the man she loved. She was the last person he spoke with. Her heart was broken, and no matter how tough and brave she was on the outside, there was a part of her, a part only few would ever see, that was broken. It was that that scared him. Her eyes were glassy, filled out with tears and even swollen from crying. It was four in the morning – in two hours she'll cover it up with makeup and start her day. He felt both honored and sad because of it – he was one of the few people who would get to see this side of her, but again, it was Peggy – his rock, his steady ground. The strongest person he had ever met: the bravest. It broke him to see her like this. „Please, Howard.“ she said, her voice cracking. The weak lights of the motel he stayed in were shining on her face. „You need to find him.“ She wiped away the tear that slid down her cheek and then pulled her lips together, trying to make them look calm and convincing. Her brilliant, brown eyes looked right back at his. Howard knew that this would be absurd – water covers about 71% of the planet, and the polar area, where Steve had disappeared, was freezing and melting just hours apart, and the tides were strong. Only God knew where he was. Not even He, maybe. But despite that, he couldn't turn her down. How would he? It was Peggy. „I will.“ he reassured her. „What time it is – 4AM? Good lord, it truly is. Well, in two hours – okay, let's circle it up to three – I'll put together a team and a ship.“ She smiled through the tears. „You will?“ „For you, Peggy. I'd steal the stars from the sky if that's what it took to make you smile.“ She laughed, spreading her arms and tying them around his chest. Tears were still falling down her face, but she was finally smiling again. „Thank you.“ she whispered. The next memory was of the day Tony was born. He was a young man now, and he had picked up many of his father's traits – the genius, the intellectual; the good looks. Thank God he had gotten his manners and calmness from his mother – there is absolutely no way on Earth Peggy could deal with two of them. But she thought about earlier, when he was just a newborn baby, the newest member of her family. He was a calm baby. One night, Maria Stark had went to bed earlier because of a headache. Peggy was in the living room with Howard and the baby. Holding the glass of wine in her glass, she glanced over at Howard, who, with his baby, was sitting next to the fireplace. „I'm proud of you, Stark.“ she said, quiet but happy. Indeed, she was. The first time she met him, Howard was no more than just big brains and good looks. Sure, he had a personality – but it wasn't quite appealing. Not at all; she remembered how she wanted for her fist to kiss his nose.


End file.
